Friday, June 27, 2014

Shortly after crossing the Ohio/Indiana state line, I saw a billboard advertising Wilbur Wright's birthplace. Over the past couple years, the girls and I have visited all sorts of Wright Brothers sites, but we hadn't been to this one, yet. We also had extra time to kill before arriving at tonight's destination (St. Louis and the Gateway Arch) . . . so why not? The birthplace was definitely off the beaten path - it was an interesting driving through the country north of the interstate - but worth the stop.

We spent about two hours looking around, starting with the house. The house that is currently standing is a replica of the 1860's house, which was condemned in the 1930's due to neglect. When rebuilding and furnishing the house, special care was taken to stay historically accurate to the time Wilbur Wright lived there - from his birth in 1867 until he was about 18 months old. The girls enjoyed looking at the artifacts from when Wilbur was a baby and imagining which room his family did various activities.

In addition to the replicated house, there are a couple of outbuildings to visit - a barn with fake animals and information about farming in the 1860's, as well as a small hangar with a Wright Flyer replica. The hangar had a model of a section of the Wright Flyer, so the girls could feel what it was like to try to steer their first airplane.

Visiting Wilbur Wright's birthplace was a good culmination of everything they have learned about the Wright Brothers so far. A lot of what we saw was review (but still fun and informative), and we learned a few new things about the Wright family. All in all, a great place to visit . . . even if it is slightly off the beaten path.